The total out-of-state spending comes to over $61,000. When you look at it like that, Heenan cares about Montana 1/3 of the time; he cares about out-of-staters 2/3 of the time.

Here’s the employee salary picture:

Derek Ketner: $3,547 salary (he lives in California)

Emily Harris: $1,996 salary

Ben Darrow: $1,953 salary (he’s been paid $16,183 so far)

Jodi Medlar: $1,611 salary

Brieanna Ripley: $1,383 salary

Suzanne Tarpey: $1,366 salary

Tully Olson: $1,323 salary (she’s been paid $9,261 so far)

Patrick Miron: $1,293 salary

Blake Thompson: $1,293 salary

That’s nearly $16,000 in salary each month.

Additionally, $59,039 was given to Virginia’s Paychex for payroll taxes and payroll expenses.

When you look at it like that, about $100,000 of the money that Heenan raised – or 30% - goes just to keep 9 people on staff.

I have to say, I’m also alarmed that the Heenan campaign paid $5,000 in rent in 2017 to Heenan Properties LLC, based out of Billings. Is this ethical?

​Grant Kier

Kier raised $441,000 over the last six months of 2017 and he spent $133,000. Here’s how that breaks down for in-state spending.

$14,000 to Missoula’s Campaign Compliance for accounting fees

$3,500 to Nick and Robin Checota to hold an event at the Bonner Amphitheater

$4,700 to East Helena’s Element L Design for graphic design and printing

$2,800 to Dallas’ Health Insurance Service Corporation for health insurance

$1,400 to Helena’s Placer Plaza, Inc. for rent

The in-state-spending I just listed comes to over $26,000.

Here’s the out-of-state spending:

$400 to Chicago’s Apollo Artistry for website maintenance

$2,800 to Chicago’s Blue State Digital for digital media consulting

$28,000 to D.C.’s Break Something LLC for fundraising consulting

The out-of-state spending comes to over $31,000. When you look at it like that, Kier cares about Montana about half the time and out-of-staters about half the time.

Here’s the employee salary picture:

Derek McDonald: $1,539 salary, though he’s made $13,506 from the campaign so far

Jacob Brown: $1,800 salary, though he’s made $14,569 from the campaign so far

Meaghan Baily: $1,316 salary

Additionally, $40,691 was paid to Virginia’s Paychex for payroll taxes and payroll expenses

As you can see, Kier has his payroll situation a lot more under control than Heenan does. He’s spending about $4,600 a month, or around $12,000 less than Heenan. Despite that, his payroll expenses were only $18,000 less than Heenan’s over the same period.

​Conclusion

If you’ve read this site for awhile, you’re probably recognizing a lot of names.

For instance, Apollo Artistry got $6,500 from Rob Quist this time last year to design his website. Grant Kier has chosen to use the same firm, despite Quist losing.

Just about every major Democrat in the state uses East Helena’s Element L Design, same with Missoula’s Campaign Compliance.

I am saddened to see that Heenan has hired Emily Harris for his campaign. Denise Juneau paid her $1,414 ever two weeks. Harris won, Juneau lost.

For some reason, Rob Quist thought it’d be a good idea to get Harris on staff, and he began paying her $2,544 a month. Harris won, Quist lost.

Now Heenan is paying her $1,966 a month. You just can’t fix stupid.

Mostly, you can’t fix the Democratic mindset in Montana.

The two leading U.S. House campaigns are currently using the same tired old marketing and consulting firms, still wasting too much money on payroll, and they’re paying the same kinds of ‘professional’ political operatives that have worked on failed U.S. House campaigns in the past.

Money talks and bullshit walks and I think you can see quite clearly that Dems have learned nothing from their losses over the past two cycles.

I doubt they’ll have learned anything new by 2020, when yet another gaggle of Dems puts their name in to try and get rid of the Republican.

Yeah…I don’t work that much, but I was hoping to get out to one of my side jobs this week (if the frozen rain ever stopped).

And of course, I write books and blog posts and other stuff you hate…but which others like, and which earns me money.

It comes down to my six-year-old, Paul.

Yep…he got sick this week: a fever on Monday which turned into staying home from school on Tuesday, and damn it – wouldn’t you know it? – the wife says he’s now got to stay home on Wednesday, too.

Shit.

There goes the work week. There goes possible earnings…and here comes an extra bit of hardship come the end of the month when the rent (and power, and internet, and healthcare) bills are due.

Yep, some of us work in the private sector, where you don’t get healthcare, you don’t get sick days, and you sure as shit don’t get vacation time. Miss a day, you don’t get paid – simple as that.

Ain’t easy, and ain’t getting’ any easier.

But enough about my problems.

Let’s talk about ‘yours’.

Missoula Ignorance

The majority of Missoula City Councilors had no idea that $22,000 was being taken out of the city’s general fund to pay for further water acquisition lawsuits.

When this – something that is anathema to the water bond levy – was pointed out to them, they looked at their feet and voted for it anyways.

Another hum-dinger that the Missoula City Council gave us this week was a potential lawsuit based on the Grove Street development per the 1974 MT Supreme Court Case.

No Missoula city councilors had any idea about this.

Well, one did – Jesse Ramos. He warned the Council, but they didn’t give a damn about what a conservative had to say.

And why should they? It won’t cost them anything, just the property taxpayers they represent.

What’s especially sad about the Grove Street development is that it’s being billed as a solution to our affordable housing crisis.

Yeah…$300,000 townhouses…quite affordable, eh?

I ran for the City Council because of what we saw here on Monday night - $1,500/month representatives who get free healthcare but won’t take the time to research what they’re voting on.

But Missoula wants this. We saw this in November. Voices like mine and Ramos’ don’t matter and no one wants to listen to them.

We’ll see how that turns out a few years from now.

The Space X Launch

Well, if you haven’t seen the video yet, I highly encourage you to watch it.

Skip to about the middle, and that’s when the sucker lifts off.

Shortly after that, it beats the sound barrier and then it’s in space.

It’s fun watching the control folk cheer and shout when David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” begins to play.

Perhaps you know that Elon Musk strapped a Tesla Roadster onto the top of that rocket, with the aim of launching it toward Mars and then the sun. If successful, that puppy’ll be in orbit around our star for millions of years.

Talk about ego; talk about success; talk about the hunger to succeed and push boundaries and do what no one else can do…simply because they haven’t worked up the urge to try.

And then to land two key, expensive parts back onto platforms – having judged their exact trajectory months before – well…besides the ability to use them again, that’s priceless (a third broke apart on the platform, becoming unusable).

I’m reminded of the historical fiction novels I write – enterprising individuals pushing forward into an unknown and hostile universe that’s wholly different from their own.

Of course there’s resistance, and hardships, and setbacks. But for those that stay on the path – or launchpad or river – they often reap the rewards.

It’s hard being successful.

I think about this when I write my characters, men like Manuel Lisa and William Clark and William Ashley.

Each success has to be outdone by a more, spectacular success.

It’s hard propping-up that success, too.

I think about this when I write about the regular folk, the common man, the guy that gets things done and doesn’t get much in return. Hell, often they die doing it.

Each hard-wrought task has to be followed by another, often harder task…and all to make ends meat.

We’re living in exciting times, as Americans always have. It’s nice to see private enterprise taking the lead, blazing new trails, and exciting the American people while doing so.

Whether back on the rivers in the 1820s, or up into space in the 2010s, Americans are awed and inspired by the intrepid few that go boldly into the darkest recesses and come out on top.

Talking Work

How ‘bout them stocks?

I believe 50% of Americans don’t own stocks. I’m willing to bet most of the other 50% has ‘em just in their 401(k)’s and such.

Don’t matter much to me what happens in the Wall Street Casino – I work in the real world.

And boy…that real world is getting better. Employment is up and wages are too. That’s the big reason stocks fell so much – Wall Street doesn’t like the working man to get a foot up.

Still, here in Missoula it’s tough.

Each day I look at the classified job ads on Craigslist, Indeed.com, and the Missoula Job Service.

Mostly it’s ads for nurses and truck drivers. Besides that it’s a lot of receptionists. After that the jobs listed are usually for $9 an hour.

Not bad – about 70 cents over minimum wage.

Perhaps you didn’t notice, but the minimum wage in Montana went up by 15 cents last month.

If you actually get 40 hours a week, that’d be an extra $6 on your paycheck.

Yep, $12 a month, or $144 a year.

What would Nancy Pelosi call that? We know she thinks $1,000 is “crumbs,” so in this case…well, what’s smaller than that?

My wage, that’s what.

Then there’s that shmuck Paul Ryan saying that a secretary making an extra $1.50 a week is a sign that America is strong, the tax cuts are good.

Talk about living in la-la land.

In another couple weeks I’ll be showing you paystubs from 2-3 of my jobs, comparing them to last year’s.

Will it be more than $1.50 a week?

We’ll see.

Just remember, 57% of Americans don’t have $1,000 in savings. This country isn’t strong because our people aren’t secure.

Added military spending will do nothing to make them secure. Security comes from the pocketbook, and the sense of wellbeing that it provides.

But in America today, the ruling elite isn’t interested in our security; they’re interested in our fear, and keeping it at high levels so we sheepishly go along with their agenda, no matter how deleterious it is to our own lives.

It’s GOP Senate candidate James Dean. Seems he’s behind in his child support payments, and – instead of paying them – he decided to barge into the school unannounced to try and take his kids away.

You might remember the story on Friday about a U-Haul truck pulled up in front of the Dean’s house.

Well…are they both Deans? A lot of doubt was cast upon their marriage when their dual-candidacies first emerged last year.

Boy…what a story – let’s not even get into the possible rape of one of the Deans’ kids…which may have been the inciting incident for both to file on the same day (Sept. 25…court charges in the rape case were filed Oct 27).

The fine folks up in Havre have been doing a helluva job chronicling these two interesting personas over the past 6 months.

And now it seems the fairytale is finally coming to an end.

That on the same day that Russ Fagg filed to run for the U.S. Senate, just the third such opposition candidate to do so.

I do believe 5 to 6 have declared, but – a month before the filing cutoff – just a couple have put their money where their mouth is.

Will James or Sarah Dean do the same?

For James…I think no. His Montana tale has come to an end.

But what about Sarah?

She seems to have her shit together a bit more…though if you go by recent interviews, maybe not.

Yes, it is a sad primary show against Tester this year…but what did you expect? Tester’s held in high favor, he’s inherited the fundraising coterie of Max, and – should Schumer ever get the hell out of the way – he’s got the chance to fill (and perhaps surpass) Mansfield’s legacy.

You see, you never pay more in payroll taxes than what you’re paying your employees, but that’s exactly what the Montana Democratic Party is doing.

I tried to call up Trent Bolger, who’s paid $4,400 a month to oversee MT Dem finances, but he’s too afraid to talk to me about this.

I don’t blame him – it smacks of corruption.

Now, let’s put this altogether in graph format:

I hope you can see the discrepancy.

You see, the Dems listed $76,000 spent in December…yet when we add up the numbers, we find that these items here are $92,000, and that’s not even all the spending (I rarely add up things like postage, printing, and such).

Well…what the hell’s that? Good question – it seems that B is based on the money given to the state Party, while H represents expenditures that can be listed as federal.

I don’t understand how it all works. Perhaps you need to be paid $4,400 a month like Trent Bolger to know that, or maybe hire an agency like Paychex.

Conclusion

Most of all, however, I think we see the real problem – the MT Democratic Party is top-heavy.

If it’s costing you over $80,000 a month just to keep ten people on staff, then I think something is wrong.

If the Dems were winning the legislature and statewide offices, sure…you might be able to justify this.

But they’re not, and show no signs that they’ll start.

That’s why they won’t talk about their finances, whether with me or someone like MTN reporter Mike Dennison.

They simply don’t want you to know the truth, for if you did…you might not give them any money.

And by God, if that happened then how would those ten staffers keep living the high life?

Montana Democratic Party members do not want to talk about this stuff, and they don’t want regular voters to learn about it.

They’re afraid of accountability, and when you look at their FEC reports, you can see why.

What’s especially sad is that nothing will change. County committees are happy with the way the Party is being run, and they don’t feel there’s any need for change. We saw that clearly at last year’s nominating convention.

At some point, though – when the continual losses keep adding up, despite Dem assurances that they’ll sweep ’18 and perhaps even get a chamber of Congress or the MT legislature back – people will start asking questions.

The financial truth will come out.

Will there be a reckoning?

In the coming months and years? No.

But as the Dems that put this system in place begin to age out – and as the out-of-state staffers they hired head off to greener pastures – there’s a good chance something will change.

And there’s also a good chance that those taking over will have been taught the ropes by the older folks, and that means we’ll keep on with this corrupt system.

After all, if you’re one of the lucky ten that makes their living off of individual and PAC donations, why would you want anything to change?

Just keep it quiet, keep it from the public, and keep on playing the game.

Around 84% of the Big Sky Values PAC’s money “came from out of state, including almost half - $208,000 – from 30 individuals and families from New York and Connecticut.”

“Only $76,500 of the money came from Montanans,” with two-thirds, or $50,000, coming “from the Kenneally family in Butte,” who own Town Pump.

Finally, the analysis:

WTF?!?

We’ve got the governor bitching about the GOP legislature that he always has to deal with, but then when we look at his priorities vis a vis the money, we see that he’s not really concerned about the legislature at all.

He’s concerned with boosting his own profile so he can go on to…better things.

Montana has little to do with Steve’s ambitions anymore, aside from allowing him a springboard for his loftier goals.

I mean…$13,500 was raised to help turn the legislature?

That comes out to $90 for each of the 150 legislative seats.

Let’s say that we just focus on the Montana House. That’s $135 for each of those 100 seats.

My, that’s a lot of money, ain’t it?

I don’t even think it’d be enough to cover the cost of accessing the Democratic Voter Access Network, or VAN, which is the huge database of all loyal and leaning Democratic voters.

I used that in 2014 but wasn’t allowed to use it in 2016. I actually got more votes when I didn’t use it.

Mostly, though, I think we have a governor that’s proven himself a failed and ineffective leader time and time again.

Instead of realizing that, Steve actually thinks he’s done a good job and wants to try and help people in America as much as he’s ‘helped’ them here in the Treasure State.

He’s counting on rich people in the Hamptons and New Canaan to propel him to the national stage. Here in Montana he relies on a family that makes most of its money from gambling machines.

Montana Democrats feel this is the kind of leadership that America needs.

With viewpoints like that, I think we can see quite clearly why Democrats have been the minority Party in this state for years, and likely will be for years to come.

It tells us that “on October 21, 2016, DOJ and FBI sought and received a FISA warrant …authorizing electronic surveillance on Carter Page…a volunteer advisor to the Trump presidential campaign.”

We’re also told that “The ‘dossier’ compiled by Christopher Steele on behalf of the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign formed an essential part of the Carter Page FISA application.”

“…the political origins of the Steele dossier were then known to senior DOJ and FBI officials.”

“…Steele said he ‘was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president.”

“…Ohr’s wife was employed by Fusion GPS to assist in the cultivation of opposition research on Trump.”

And now get ready for the shit storm.

In Brief

UM’s soccer coach quit because the university found out he was calling Las Vegas escort services using his work phone. Hey…at least he’s not like most Montana teachers in the news – having sex with students.

The East Missoula manhunt guy wanted to “die by cop” earlier this week. I wish we had fewer cowards in this country, fewer people that want others to do the job they should be doing themselves.

Yesterday in Texas, a guy was put to death for killing his two daughters while making his wife listen on the phone. My only questions are…why’d it take 17 years to kill this guy, and why’d Texas taxpayers have to pay $315,000 to house him that long?

I loved this Tweet from Josh Manning, a hardcore Dem (do you think he’ll actually vote against Tester?):

Nancy Pelosi actually called the $1,000 tax bonuses for American workers “crumbs.” The GOP is already mounting ad campaigns based on this statement, and it might be enough to unseat the 7-term San Franciscan.

Missoula’s roads are so bad, its air is so dirty, and the local government is so broke that it can’t fix any of this, so it wants working families to either give up one of their cars, or at least drive less.

Lefties are up in arms this week because they can’t do enough abortions in Montana. Please remember, just 0.6% of people get an abortion in America each year. That means 99.4% of Americans are responsible enough to never need an abortion.

It seems that Democrats won’t negotiate with Trump on DACA, and this with the government set to close in a week. Maybe a shutdown will work for them this time…I dunno.

A Train Wreck

Let’s talk about that GOP train wreck.

I’m hearing that maybe the signal lights to block traffic weren’t working. Well…doesn’t Congress regulate that? Where were they, or the agency they assign to oversee this?

Why are tons of GOPers going to a retreat in the middle of the work week?

Are the GOPers being paid taxpayer money to attend this posh retreat?

If keeping the government open was so important…why are GOPers not in the District of Criminals, but instead gallivanting off to resort hotels?

I agree with the GOP on a lot of things. It’s just that the GOPers at the national level are so fucking stupid that you have to question the intelligence of GOPers at all levels.

In the Sand

Diane Sands is done.

There’s no way she’s going to beat the UM football player that’s running against her for SD 49.

Remember, she beat the GOPer in 2014 by 35 votes, and that after a recount…which she paid for.

Personally, I can’t recall what Diane has done over the past 4 years while serving in that seat.

I just don’t see any way she’s going to pull this off. Maybe her years working as a lobbyist will give her the fundraising capability, but I don’t see much more than that.

A running back vs. a lesbian lobbyist.

I know Missoula is a progressive town – the Berkeley of the North – but it’s a football town, too.

If Chase is smart and gets people behind him that know how to run a Missoula campaign, he’ll win this with yards to spare.

Keep on Postin’

I know futility when I see it. It’s called Twitter.

Democrats hate money in politics unless their guy is the one raising it. This is the definition of hypocrisy.

I have to say…I get people emailing me saying that Fagg will win the GOP primary.

That’s probably true – he has the family connections. California Troy is too out-of-state to win, while Maryland Matt is too safe in his Auditor office to really give a damn.

But anything could happen.

Anyway that it does happen, however…there ain’t no way Tester is losing.

California Troy raises $2 million, Tester will raise $4 million.

Maryland Matt raises $6 million, Tester will raise $12 million.

Tester has all of his District of Criminals cronies to give him money so he’ll keep voting in their interests.

We know this because we’ve looked into his fundraising and his votes on this site. We have been for years.

It’s why we know that VA wait times in Missoula are 46 days today, while in 2015 they were 46 days.

Nothing ever changes, and nothing will change when it comes to who’s holding this senate seat.

The only possibility of change is if Tester has a heart attack.

The guy’s heavily overweight, he travels all the time, and – judging from both of those – he doesn’t eat right.

I doubt he exercises much. His health’s only saving grace is that he doesn’t smoke and probably drinks rarely.

How long can the guy’s ticker keep it up?

The House Dems

I cannot tell you how unexcited I am over the gaggle of Dem House candidates trying to take Gianforte’s seat.

What is there to get excited about?

I saw Kathleen Williams put up an image a week ago of her in hunter’s orange, out in a field with a rifle.

I thought it was a damn good image…but I’m wondering who’s she’s trying to reach.

You see, Dems don’t care about that stuff. In fact, they despise it.

But moderate Dems, independents, and crossover GOPers love it.

Problem’s that those folks won’t have a chance to vote for Williams unless she makes it to the general. At this point, I don’t see her making it that far.

Right now we see the varying MT Dem factions jockeying for either Heenan or Kier. The Sanders folks vs. the Hillarycrats, respectively.

Who will win?

I dunno.

I do know that whoever wins won’t beat Gianforte.

Heenan raises $2 million, Gianforte will raise $4 million.

Kier raises $6 million, Gianforte will raise $12.

‘Raise’ is really a misnomer – we all know Gianforte will just inject that money from his vast wealth. Remember, he’s the richest member of the 535 members of Congress.

How can you beat that?

It’s the same with Tester…how can you beat that?

Simple – don’t play the money game.

Trump beat Hillary despite the fact that she outspent him nearly 2-to-1.

People are sick of money in politics. It’s just that our current politicians – while realizing this – haven’t figured out how to pull themselves away from the trough, or win if they’ve never eaten from it.

One day they will learn this, however, and that’s when Citizens United will crumble and become irrelevant.

You know that our corrupt 535 will never get rid of it, despite paying lip service during election years that they ‘want to.’

As usual in this country, it’ll be you and I that do the true work.

Finally…the Super Bowl

I know the Eagles are going to win. Americans want them to.

We’re sick of dynasties in this country; we’re sick of those that win too much.

I wonder how astrology and the recent lunar eclipse will play into it.

Tom Brady is a Leo, or lion, an animal that runs on the ground with a mighty roar.

Nick Foles is an Aquarius, a water-bearing sign.

When we look at the two teams, we see they’re ruled by Leo and Aires – the lion and the hawk/eagle.

When we combine those two animals we get the griffon, which is often considered to be the most majestic of all the mythological beasts.

Will this game be majestic, or will it be a blowout? I do know that it’ll be hard to overcome the excitement of the last Super Bowl, which saw the Patriots come from over 20 points behind to win.

The last time the Eagles were in the Super Bowl was 2005…and they lost to the Patriots.

It’ll be a good game on Sunday, and I’m so happy I can watch it for free online.

Nearly 46 million watched the State of the Union Address this week. Last year 114 million watched the Super Bowl.

These days I mostly focus on writing books that have a proven track record.

For instance, last year I put out just two books – Rose’s Rage and Dulce Truths.

The first sold 189 copies, the second just 17.

So I focus on the mountain man novels, and the next one I’m working on takes us up into 1820-21.

This is a tough period of American history, mainly because so few know about it. Despite that, I have a good list of books that I’ve already read, and will check out at the library again to get additional information on this period. They are:

Fort Clark and its Indian Neighbors

The Arikara War

William Clark and the Shaping of the West

The American Fur Trade of the Far West

The First Choteaus

Fur, Fortune and Empire

Before Lewis and Clark

The Fur Trade of the American West

Like I said, I’ve read ‘em all before. Skimmed through ‘em several more times after that.

When you actually sit down to write historical fiction, you need to have facts and details.

What are your characters supposed to talk about?

Which events were happening that affect your story?

What were prices like for goods and services?

What kind of trees were growing in certain areas?

What was the temperament of the various tribes at that time?

How many people lived in certain cities, or in forts or villages?

Which companies were operating and what did they pay?

What were the antagonisms of the day?

How did people view those back in Washington?

Why on earth would people choose fur trapping as a job?

One of the main things I’m trying to nail-down is which characters were in the fur trapping businesses before William Henry Ashley put out his call for 100 men to join him?

For instance, Hugh Glass was one of these men, and you’ve surely seen the film The Revenant by now.

He got his main start with Ashley and then kicked around for another 10 years on the rivers. Mostly, I need enough characters to get me through another three volumes of the series. That’s usually how I do it – three-volume story arcs.

I already know that a lot of people will die in this book, as they always do in my books. Mostly, we’re talking about Jones and Immel and their party, which was ambushed near present-day Billings in May 1823.

Yep, it was the Blackfeet…again.

You might remember that it was the Blackfeet that drove Americans out of what would become Montana way back in 1810-11.

The whites came back in 1821 to start Fort Benton on the Yellowstone, which lasted until 1823. That same year, the whites were massacred, and didn’t try again until 1831 when Fort Piegan was built on the Marias. The Indians burned it down the following year.

By that time Fort Union was going strong, and had been since 1828. It proved a good starting-off point for many trappers to come into Montana, avoiding the hostiles as much as they could.

Fort Cass came along in 1832 on the Yellowstone. Fort Jackson would come along in 1833, near today’s Poplar. Samuel Tulloch built the former for the American Fur Company, while C.S. Chardon put up the latter for the same outfit.

Then there’s the Arikara War of 1823, the establishment of Fort Atkinson, and the increasing military presence out west.

Business interests had to be protected, especially with more western territories becoming states, and more tax money flowing into government coffers. A war had just been fought five years earlier, and a serious financial panic had happened the year before.

1820-21 was an interesting time in America and in Montana, and I hope to show you that in a fun and entertaining way when this novel is finally finished.

Until then, check out some of those books at the library…or read my own history of the period in a book called Tribes and Trappers: A History of Montana, Volume I.

When the speech was over and they could get up and leave, what’d they do?

They sent out a Kennedy to tell us how things should be.

Here’s a family that:

Rose to power through illegal liquor sales

Had questionable stock market trades

Engaged in voter fraud in the 1960 Election

Had a president that cheated on his wife all the time

Had an AG that cheated on his wife quite often

Had a senator that drove a woman off a bridge while he was drunk, and then left her to die

Who the hell came up with the ‘great idea’ to have a Kennedy speak for common Democrats?

Personally, I don’t think Democrats speak for common people in this country anymore.

Trump does that. He did it last night.

Whether it was talking about the doubling of the child tax credit, giving me more take-home pay, or letting my kid have free healthcare for another 6 years…it was Trump that took the working issues of Democrats and made them his own.

Aside from that, both black unemployment and Hispanic unemployment are at the lowest levels in history. Fewer people are on food stamps than they have been in years.

Tons of companies – both large and small – are giving bonuses and pay raises. Some companies are even investing billions of dollars back into America. Apple just did this. Usually that money would go to Chinese plants and factories.

I guess if I was a Democrat, I’d be pissed off and scowling and sitting on my hands too.

For them, here’s a guy that came out of nowhere, said all the wrong things, and never should have won.

But he did win, and damn it all to hell…wouldn’t you know it? Dems were reminded of that last night. And they hated every minute of it and wanted us to know it.

Personally, when I go to work with coworkers that clearly hate their job and don’t want to be there, I wonder why they’re still working there. I’m sure my boss does, too.

What will the American people think of the Dems’ performance last night?

I think we’ll see quite clearly in November that they didn’t like it, and that they don’t feel the Dems can do anything for them.

Already, Dems sound like they’re going to dig in their heels on the border wall funding…which means no DACA.

And here’s Trump, saying that nearly 3 times the number of illegal immigrants can gain a path to citizenship than the Dems wanted.

This will clearly become the big issue over the coming weeks, especially as we get closer to the next possible government shutdown, which is set for next Thursday.

I’m not sure Democrats even know what their big issues are.

One thing we do know is that this year’s speech had some of the best guests in a long time. Whether it was a Coast Guard woman that saved a bunch of people, a firefighter that did the same, or a border agent that actually adopted a drug addict's kid, these were some amazing people.

We had the parents of two girls that were killed by illegal alien gang members; we had the parents of the poor guy that was beaten to a brain-damaged state by the North Koreans; we had a guy on crutches that escaped from that shithole of a country.

These were some memorable guests that elicited strong emotions from those in attendance and those at home. Putting a face on the issues.

And I didn’t see any guests that were angry with or sick of the president. I did see people that were proud he was highlighting their plights, and what their families had been through.

I even saw Democrats stop crying in their beer long enough to actually stand up and applaud some of them.

So what was bad about the speech?

Trump’s continual clapping began to grow annoying, and I noticed lots of Dems on social media lampooning him for this.

At the same time, I noticed that his clapping directed the rest of the chamber. Sometimes this meant clapping went on longer, sometimes it meant it wrapped up quickly.

I had to ask myself…where the hell’s this $1.5 trillion for infrastructure going to come from? Trump says he wants that from Congress, which I guess means we’ll just print up more money.

Why pay the bill now when we can have our great-grandkids do it for us? We sure as hell know that states don't have the money for it, not when they have to have balanced budgets.

I didn’t hear a lot on inflation, which I’ve noticed is rearing its ugly head when I go to buy groceries.

I didn’t hear much on our second war with Korea, which will surely begin in March, following the Winter Olympics.

I didn’t hear much on the fact that a president born on a lunar full moon eclipse was the first president to give a state of the union address during a full moon lunar eclipse.

Oh well.

It was clear the world was watching last night. Over 23 million watched, which is 19% more than last year…though about 10 million fewer than watched in 2009.

I watched the whole thing and enjoyed it.

Now we can sit back and watch the drive-by media bash the hell out of it; the conservative media talk-it-up.

Meanwhile, the strong Americans that Trump mentioned will continue to get up and go to work, ensuring this country works so those in the District of Criminals keep getting enough play money so they can bitch and moan and not do their jobs, blaming the other guy, while looking forward to their next extended – and taxpayer-funded – recess.

At least we’re doing our jobs, and this nation is strong because of it.

Well…maybe it has, but if so, that’s through your own actions, not those of the government.

Actually, ‘action’ isn’t really a word I’d use to describe our government. ‘Inaction’ would be more appropriate.

And my God…I’m thankful for that.

Let me give you 10 reasons why.

#10 CHIP

Well, the government reopened, and with it, we got another 6 years of the CHIP.

Several Democrats voted against giving healthcare to kids. Our own Senator Tester was one of them.

Republicans will never stop mentioning this, and – as James Conner says over at Flathead Memo – this could prove costly.

What the hell was Jon thinking?!?

#9 DACA

I gave you the figures weeks ago:

9 million vs. 800,000.

That was the number of kids on CHIP verses the number of DACA Dreamers.

9 million American kids versus 800,000 illegal aliens.

And Dems actually think they have a winning issue here.

I love the GOP, and how they realize what I’ve been saying for years…take the other guy’s issues and make them your own.

Trump supports a path to citizenship, even though many of his supporters do not.

And boy, he’s a smart cookie. Tying DACA to border wall funding is a bold move, and one that will get him what he wants.

Dems boxed themselves into a corner with the shutdown, and they have nothing to bargain over when it comes to DACA.

#8 State of the Union

I guess the big speech is this Tuesday.

I could care less, and most Americans are just like me.

Last year 47 million Americans watched the speech. 14% of the country.

In 2016, 31 million people watched.

Pray tell…why such low numbers?

Because it’s boring.

It’s a 1-to-2-hour borefest, with a bunch of rich, white men in suits giving themselves a veritable circle-jerk over how good they are.

Once again, I’m so happy that the American people are smart…smart enough not to waste their night listening to these fools telling us how good the country is.

Here in the trenches, we know the country is in the shitter. Has been for decades.

I guess if you’re one of those fancy fucks that’ll be in Congress on Tuesday, however, things couldn’t be rosier.

#7 A Laughable Opposition

I love ID and Cowturd.

Two Dem-backed sites that get their knickers in a knot over anything the GOP does.

And boy…they really have an impact, don’t they?

Whether it’s bashing Daines or Zinke or Gianforte, or maybe even putting up political cartoons that mock the physical appearance of our politicians, these sites really go balls to the wall.

And my, what an impact!

Dems control few state legislatures. They don’t have many governors, or state-wides. All three branches of the federal government are lost to them.

Fewer people are actually giving money to the Democrats. The DNC is broke. The Montana Democratic Party is taking in less money than they spend.

Maybe there’s just not enough blog posts…perhaps that’s the problem.

If only ID and Cowturd – and the many sites like them across this vast county – would just post more, maybe things would turn around.

Or maybe not.

You see, it’s easy to complain. It’s hard to work.

Despite the lip service paid to women’s issues, neither ID or Cowturd actually went to the Women’s March last week to take pictures or tell us what they saw.

They’ll bitch, but they’ll do little else.

#6 Money, Money, Money

In another couple weeks I’ll begin posting my paystubs on this site, comparing them to last year’s.

I’ll do this so you can see what effect the Trump tax cuts have had on regular, working people.

I fully expect my take-home pay to go up.

I’m happy for this, as I’d rather spend that money in my local economy instead of giving it to the government so they can…waste it.

Whether it’s pissing it away on our two never-ending wars, giving it to our bloated federal bureaucracy, or simply using it to pay interest on our out-of-control debt, you and I both know that money will be wasted.

There are tons of arguments for why giving more of your money to the government helps you.

It’s just that here in the real world, we never see these benefits.

#5 Infrastructure? Please

Talk is starting up that we’ll be funding infrastructure soon.

Give me a break.

This country doesn’t care about itself. Look at our roads. I remember the last time we had a highway bill pass: it actually underfunded our infrastructure needs by $10.5 billion.

This country will never be rebuilt.

Oh, you’ll hear a lot of big talk from our politicians, but it’s just that…talk.

Building schools and roads in Iraq and Afghanistan will always be more profitable than doing so here in America.

And you want it this way.

You vote for D’s and R’s, all the while complaining that nothing ever changes.

No shit, Sherlock. Let's grow a pair and get off our fat and lazy asses and actually get mad.

But we never will, and nothing will ever change.

#4 Jesus Would Never Stop Throwing Up

The Catholic church cares so much about its followers that it hid money so it wouldn’t have to pay the poor schmucks that were abused by their priests.

$86 million in real estate and cash.

The Vatican Bank has $8 billion in assets.

And this for an organization that prides itself on ‘helping the poor.’

Seems to me they spend more time helping themselves.

We shouldn’t be surprised by this. We all know that organized religion is corrupt. It’s why 60% of Americans don’t even bother going to church.

Why should we?

Oh, I think I know…so we can hear some asshole give us a sermon on heaven and hell while behind the scenes, he covers up his assets so he doesn’t have to pay the people he fucked up the ass.

Jesus would be proud.

#3 Pay

How’s your pay?

Has it gone up lately?

Personally, I saw two of my jobs go from $8.15 an hour to $8.30 an hour.

If I was working full-time, that’d be an extra $6 a week.

Wow…and thanks.

Ya really helped me out a lot there.

Since 2011, wages in Montana have gone up by 10%. Housing prices have gone up 40%. Here in Missoula, housing prices are so high that we’re in the “top 3 percent of unaffordable counties nationwide.”

What a failure.

Don’t expect your wages to rise, either.

Your boss doesn’t give a flying fuck about you. You can be replaced. And good luck asking for a raise. I did that with an employer last January and was promptly fired.

You know nothing will change.

Every single one of our politicians is a rich man or woman…people that don’t work for minimum wage and actually hold those that do in contempt.

Here in Montana, we actually have the richest member of Congress representing us.

To those folks, the only people working for minimum wage are teenagers.

Talk about clueless.

#2 Divisions

Here’s an idea:

Instead of focusing on the people that are making our lives miserable, why don’t we just fight amongst ourselves?

This is one of the greatest victories the rich, elite, ruling-class has managed to perpetuate.

Instead of grabbing our pitchforks and storming the castle gates, we actually stay down in the village, attacking each other.

Up in those castle windows, the rich smile and laugh at us while drinking their Courvoisier.

And we let them get away with this.

Here in America we think we’re strong, but nothing could be further from the truth.

We’re a weak nation, full of weak and spineless people.

We allow a small, fraction-of-the-population ruling class dictate how we live, how much we make, and what we can do. And then we actually give them a sizeable portion of our earnings so they can stay in charge.

Yep, if we’re not paying them taxes, we’ll pay them for the products we ‘oh-so-desperately-need.’

Worse, we actually buy into their bullshit and send our young men and women overseas to die for the rich man’s profits.

We call this patriotism and being ‘a good American.’ Parents actually encourage their kids to think like this.

#1 It Doesn’t Matter

Over the past week I logged out of my social media accounts.

I didn’t make posts and I didn’t read the posts of others.

It was a huge breath of fresh air.

I didn’t comment on the news because I wasn’t following the news. And my goodness…my life didn’t change at all.

It’s amazing how little the national debate actually affects us!

For some reason, however, we actually think that what’s on the national news does have an impact on us.

Boy are we stupid.

Now, I’m sure you didn’t like this post.

Maybe it rubbed you the wrong way.

Good. We need that. This country needs that.

Because if we keep rubbing ourselves the way we have, I don’t think this nation will remain a viable, going concern for much longer.

But what do I know?

I’m just a poor, working man with no savings and nothing in retirement. There are tons of rich, well-off folks that will tell you everything is peaches and cream.

Montana Blogby Greg Strandberg

This Montana history blog is working its way up through time.It began in March 2013 with the early geology of Montana and continues on toward recent Montana history. Currently we're edging up into the 1990s.